Ah! World of Megami
by Exiled Doomsayer
Summary: Contact with another dimension long lost has been recovered, Kami-sama sent a group of goddesses to explore this long forgotten world, and to find the source of the loss of contact millenia ago, but things never go as planned... do they?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I**

It was a cold morning in Alterac valley, yet the battle shouts could be heard far and wide, the white snow falling over the fields, soon turned crimson with the blood spilled, it hasn't been too long since both the Horde and Alliance turned their backs on the truce done to fight the Burning Legion on Outland and stopping the Deceiver to enter to Azeroth, to renew the hostilities that has been present for years. The battle for the dominion of the Alterac valley is kept into a Stalemate, the orcs of the Frostwolf clan and the Stormspike dwarves have been unable to make any significant advances against each other, the weather and other factors like the kobold infestation in the mines have slowed their progress and each day that passes both side lose soldiers, and with the new threat from the north, reinforcements are running low.

Far from the main fray, in the middle of the valley, laid a human, bleeding badly he crawled near the charred corpse of an orc, he'd come to investigate the origin of some strange shining in that part of the valley, just to find himself with a curious orc. It had been a gruesome fight, the green skinned warrior wielded his axe fiercely toward the human, whom, with a quick movement of his wrist hurled a firebolt inflicting some serious damage on the orc. This one, growled in pain and charged towards swiftly, before the mage could even react he felt a blunt hit on his stomach, and then the blade cutting his skin.

He fell to the floor backwards, gasping, he saw that the orc rose his axe to the air to give the final blow, in a desperate attempt the mage uttered an arcane word, followed by extending his left hand in front of him, directed at the orc, a small explosion covered its face, followed by a desperate roar and the orc fell lifeless to the ground, fire started to extend from his head to the rest of his body.

'By the light… guess I'm not living to tell the tale as well' the mage managed to say to the dead orc, not without coughing some blood 'I… never… thought…' he crawled some distance, the wound and the loss of blood making it harder to move, he stopped, without anymore strength he looked up in the sky, waiting for the unavoidable 'I… never… thought… I'd die like this' his body was getting numb, he'd already lost too much blood, he felt the end coming… a sudden vision of a woman, a beautiful one, wearing strange clothes, an adorned white and blue dress, with several, thin golden bracelets, three strange blue marks, two on the sides of her face and one on her forehead, light brown hair. The strange woman moved towards him, if the woman was Death coming from him, he wondered why some people were afraid of dying, his vision was getting darker, blurry, he could not see the expressions on her face, he felt a warm touch on his skin, then all turned dark…

'Man… wake up!!' the mage could hear some voices, they deemed distant, but kept going stronger, it was dark, there was no pain, he felt warmth, he could hear a feminine voice, sounded worried, it was melodic, beautiful he dared to say, he made an effort to open his eyes, his vision still blurry, he saw the woman from before, looking over him, tears on her eyes, she looked extremely worried, her expression turned soon into one of joy after realizing he was awake, and quickly embraced him. 'Am I dead?' he asked still disoriented.

'Almost, but this miraculous woman saved your life, by your wounds not even our most expert priests could've saved you lad' the other voice, now he could see a dwarf standing next to the woman 'I was about to stop drinkin if you got away from that one' the dwarf laughed in joy 'good you back with us Keiichi… I'd buy some drinks to celebrate but we got a war in here and it would kill the mood' he patted Keiichi's name.

The mage now known as Keiichi looked at the face of his savior, it was obvious she wasn't from this place, her eyes, blue still teary, the smile on her face. 'I owe you my life milady, I could have sworn you were just about a delusion of a dying man, but now I see you are real, and if not all, you brought me back to life' he could still feel the strong embrace of the woman, he felt nervous, he'd never been so close to a woman now, and if this wasn't enough, the woman who just took him away from the claws of his fate.

'Good to see you are still alive' the woman said, with a bright smile, still tears on her face 'I thought… you were already gone, I'm glad you have recovered Keiichi-san' she concluded. Keiichi had to admit that she was even cuter from close, he started to blush slightly.

'Heh, sorry for killin the mood lads but we got a war in here, and we must press on' the dwarf expression turned serious 'It's just matter of time whether the lack of reinforcements and supplies determines the victor, and things gotten even worse with the new threat from the north' the red bearded dwarf was lost in his own reflections 'sorry… I'm starting to rant again…' he smiled, moving aside, he grabbed his axe that was leaned against the door, turned his back ' as soon as you recover lemme know lad… I'll ask me cousin to ready a gryphon fer ya and yer lovely lady… er…'

'Belldandy' the woman beamed, bowing slightly in acknowledgement.

'yeah Bell to Ironforge to see what ye going to do next aye?'

'But the war here in…' Keiichi replied, winced a bit in pain, even though Belldandy's healing magic have taken care of the major wounds, still some minor cuts and bruises remained, still he freed from her embrace and made an effort to get up from his bed and move towards the dwarf ' you said… every single person is needed here… or else…'

'Listen to me laddie!' the dwarf shouted, grabbing his trusted axe with both hands and swinging it menacingly, Belldandy turned in shock, he held Keiichi by the shoulder as he tripped with the wooden floor 'it is true… but, yer not the fighting type… and besides I'd not forgive me self if I lost another friend is this damned battlefield' he was dead serious, but like by magic his expression turned into a goofy grin 'besides if you died you'd never be able to buy that drink ye promised me some time ago' the dwarf laughed, and fell on his back, making all the presents to laugh.

'Thanks Maltic' Keiichi answered, he knew the old dwarf was right, he'd never been the fighting kind, he was more of a researcher than everything else 'Probably I may head to Dalaran one of this days, I heard the Kirin Tor moved the city to some high place in Northrend'

'A flying city?' the dwarf asked 'this old Ironbeard has seen lots o'stuff in this world but never a flying city, perhaps when this mess ends I'll head there and have some drinks with ya, what ye say?'

Belldandy had been hearing the conversation the whole time, for her it was really new to see too different races interact so familiarly with each other, no prejudices, still she held some preoccupation in her heart since that strange anomaly that occurred during the dimensional travel, that had divided the Goddesses exploration team on her charge to this world, she wished them to be fine, and hopefully to be able to interact with peaceful locals, as this world seemed to be in conflict. Other fact that worried her is that she'd lost contact with Yggdrassil and her powers were very limited, fortunately for the young wizard she'd found, her powers were enough to save his life, even leaving her exhausted for some time. There were still so many subjects that ran through her mind, countless questions about this strange world, hopefully the young mage may have some answers for her, but she would ask him later; as she found their conversation quite hearthwarming.

'I hate to say this lad, but I have to take my leave… this battle ain't going to be won by sittin idly here ya know?' he opened the oak door, putting his axe on his back 'When yer fine enough to leave the Stormspike Aid Station, head back until you pass the bridge, in the ledge near one of the bunkers you'll find me cousin Baelin Ironbeard, he's black bear and small eyes, you won't miss him, tell him good ole Maltic said to give ye a gryphon to take you to Ironforge or wherever you want to go, and I will pay him later if I still breathe' he turned and walked towards Belldandy, made a sign to go lower and whispered on her ear 'Keiichi is like a son to me, he's a good lad but his curiosity sometimes gets the best of him… please take good care of him'

'Yes… I will' Belldandy cheerfully answered back.

'Alright then… take good care lads…' he walked out of the room 'And don't rush things!' this last shout, followed by an enormous laugh made Keiichi blush slightly, Belldandy just turned her face to one side, confused.

'Keiichi-san, perhaps you need to rest a bit more' Belldandy turned to him, and said in a concerned tone 'your wounds have not healed completely'

'Maybe your right… I'll go back to the bed' he nodded, and slowly laid into the bed, still reminiscing the past events, after some silence, he decided to break the ice 'What's with that san you use after calling my name?'

'Don't you like it?' she answered, her face looked a bit concerned, still Keiichi could not think that that made her look less beautiful, he turned his face in embarrassment.

'No… it's not that… it's just strange… never heard around here' he was going to add even more strange than his name was to most of the people that knew him, still he'd never knew where his father had taken the idea of naming him that way. His sudden train of thoughts about his name origins was suddenly interrupted by the memory he had of Belldandy appearing to him, blurry vision as it was but he was completely sure that it had been something out of this world. 'You aren't from here as well are you?'

'No, I am not, I am a Goddess…' Keiichi jumped from his bed in shock, it could explain how he was saved from certain death, and the woman didn't seem to be lying, he'd heard legends about the Old Gods, and their tyrannical rule before the arrival of the Titans, creatures of pure evil, but Belldandy didn't seem like on if what she said was truth.

'Is something wrong Keiichi san?' asked a worried Belldandy, she could notice the turmoil inside him, a mix of surprise, awe and fear within him, she was still weak, the loss of contact with Yggdrassil was starting to feel, yet she was able to read part of Keiichi's mind, something about some Old Gods, still it wasn't very clear, Belldandy felt she was getting weaker, dazed, couldn't keep her balance well, she'd spent too much energy saving the young mage's life, she fell on her knees.

'No…' after seeing Belldandy's state, his nervous tone turned into a one of concern 'Are you okay?' he asked as he approached to her, helping Belldandy to stand up.

'I'm just weak right now… I used too much power and with my connection with Yggdrassil getting weaker, I get exhausted very easily… just let me rest for some time and I will be okay…' saying this Belldandy fell asleep, Keiichi carefully laid her onto the bed, and sat on a chair next to her, examining her, couldn't help himself from blushing a bit, but the statement she did before startled him. Perhaps after she'd rested enough, he could ask her to answer his questions during the trip back to Ironforge. Submerged into his own thoughts he could not help but falling asleep as well, still ready to wake up at the minor indication of a Horde incursion near the aid station.

The few weeks he'd spend in Alterac Valley had taught him that no place was relatively safe, not even the main fortress of the dwarves, which helped him to develop light sleep, as several times they've found themselves ambushed by night horde incursions.

A few hours passed, when Keiichi finally woke up, he looked on Belldandy's direction to see if she was fine, apparently it did, but she was still asleep; he could hear the battle cries at the distance, mixed with explosions caused by bombs and siege vehicles, even the clash of steel was audible, he knew that the battle was coming to them, and they had to move fast. He attempted to wake Belldandy, but her sleep was too heavy or so he thought, he carried her bridal style, carefully and headed out of the bunker, the walk was not long, he moved as quickly as he could with the goddess on his arms, a bit exhausting he thought, he'd never been used to carry anything heavier than a couple of books or so, but still he dashed, until he reached the graveyard. There he took breath and rested a bit, they were almost there, they just had to cross the bridge and pass the bunkers and they would find Maltiv's cousin in the stables.

Belldandy had been into a heavy sleep, and she'd regained some of her energy, still she felt very exhausted, suddenly she felt cold, the wind running, touching her skin, she felt two arms holding her, the heavy breath of someone too close. She opened her eyes, she found herself to be in what it looked to be a graveyard, covered by snow, some of the tombs were fresh, probably results of a battle, she could not help but feel sadness, this world seemed to be torn by war, still she hoped in her hear that someday, it would all be peace.

She then looked up and saw Keiichi's face, panting, probably he'd not noticed she had awaken for now, and was still focused on going through the bridge, the goddess had to admit he was rather handsome for a mortal, and blushed when she realized how she was being carried.

'Keiichi-san' she whispered, apparently he had not listened 'Keiichi-san' she repeated a bit louder, Keiichi looked down, curious, suddenly both realized the closeness of their faces, blushing madly. 'Sorry to worry you… it's that I was exhausted…'

'Don't worry… I know you are exhausted for saving me' he said, turning his face to avoid Belldandy's gaze as he still was red, he continued moving 'I apologize for carrying you this way… but we had to move… how do you feel know?'

'I feel much better now, thanks' she beamed at him, the goddess was about to add she could walk, but she could feel his heat, care and tenderness, and just for this time, she decided to keep quiet.

The rest of the trip was short, in a few minutes they passed the bunkers and arrived to the stables, there was a black beard tanned dwarf.

'So you must be Keiichi laddie, and she must be yer bride?' the dwarf laughed, the duo blushed again, Belldandy in a bit of embarrassment got on her feet and stood next to Keiichi 'good ol Maltiv told me about ya and I have yer griphen ready… hours ago… what kept ye from coming sooner?' the dwarf concluded with a silly grin, both of them completely red after hearing the dwarf's accusation 'Don't worry yer here now, and here's the gryphon' He took one of the gryphon that was kept inside the stables, unlike the others that had golden and white feathers this one was completely white, the dwarf placed the reins, and they where ready to go.

'You know how to ride one of these aye laddie?' the dwarf asked.

'I do… I had to learn… well I was forced… Wildhammer… Outland' he stuttered, Keiichi much to his despair still remembered the first time he'd learned to ride a gryphon, his drunken instructor and if it had not been worse, the gryphon hadn't been completely tamed.

'Hah!... those Wildhammer sure are crazy' the dwarf stated ' but well… as I'd like to stay talkin with ye, you must take the gryphon and I must take my leave, I got some wounded to pick up…'

'Thanks Baelin… we are in your debt' the mage politely thanked 'Whenever you see Maltiv… send him some regards and our thanks'

'Thanks so much' said Belldandy

'You could have done that laddie' the dwarf responded with a grim look 'He's been resting for a couple hours now in the graveyard… sorry laddie… we arrived too late' Keiichi was at lost for words, Maltiv even though he met him for a short time, it had been like a father to him, always aiding him when in trouble amidst the battles in the valley. He silently sworn to come back after the battle was over and pay a visit to his friends resting place.

Belldandy felt sorry for Keiichi, she could feel his anguish, she wanted to help him to calm, but for now it was better to leave him alone, perhaps in the trip she would talk to him about this, for know she remained silently and leaned on Keiichi's back.

'Shall we go now?' he asked her, still shocked by the news, he'd lost a good friend, but during the time in Alterac he'd learned that death comes to everyone, at any time, he'd already seen several friends fall in battle, all painful experiences, but that was something he could not stay and look, he had to move on, like everyone has done. He could feel Belldandy silently leaned against his back, he thanked her in an inaudible whisper, he felt more comfortable, probably thanks to her.

Keiichi helped Belldandy to ride the gryphon, the animal, now completely tamed still showed some of his wild instincts, but before the presence of the goddess he showed himself completely tamed, after helping Belldandy, Keiichi sat behind her and grabbed the reins, that way the trip while a bit uncomfortable for him, it would be safer for the goddess in front of him.

'Just tell him where ye want to go and he'll find the way, this is me gryphon so ye better take care of him, and don't worry he'll come back to me once you arrive… safe travel' the dwarf bid them farewell, a silent answer from both of them as the animal took flight.

'To Ironforge!' Keiichi commanded.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

Somewhere in the south of the Eastern Kingdoms, in the demon infested terrain of the Blasted Lands, an unknown woman appeared, the short haired women seemed to be confused, as this was not the place she was meant to appear, instead she found herself in the mid of a barren land, the stench of sulfur surrounding her, the red land, she could feel the Earth wail, she felt weak, she'd tried to keep the group together, but the anomaly was too strong, hence the attempt failed, and if that wasn't enough she'd resulted completely exhausted.

She tried to move, still she couldn't, she was too exhausted, her vision was blurry, she could see a group of people coming towards her, she felt their bad intentions, yet she couldn't do a thing, as she collapsed to the ground.

Some time later, she regained consciousness, looked at the surroundings, she found herself in some sort of prison, the dark metal bars was the only thing that separated her from freedom, the guard, a troll, was sleeping soundly, maybe she could try to use her magic to get the keys.

'I would not dare to do that… if I were you…' a deep, guttural voice said, suddenly she turned to her left and saw that the corpse was talking to her, at least it looked like one except from the yellow glow in his eyes, covered by a black leather armor, unprotected on the sides of his chest, showing his bones, the women was scared, for she had not seen nothing like that before, she saw his hands were immobilized by some sort of trap. 'They used a seal on you… so if you use magic you'll suffer a fate worse than death, they got me too… I was dumb enough to fall on their traps and now I can't do shit…'

'Do you know why we have been captured?' the woman asked.

The undead, surprised why a human, well it looked like a regular human, except from those marks in her face, and the peculiar dressing she had, similar of a two pieces black bikini with some leather strapping's floating around her, would talk to him, specially that undead and humans were sworn enemies, he smiled, the mask covered all of his expressions. 'Probably we are going to be offered as a sacrifice to some demon… I can't really tell, normally these idiots tend to kill anyone in their way, not to imprison them… well there are fates worse than being offered to a demon…'

'What do you mean by worse?' the woman asked, a bit surprised.

'Undeath…' the creature answered ' I was once human you know… but well… shit happens'

The woman was touched, she could feel the anger, sadness and bitterness coming from the undead, his suffering. 'I… am… sorry' she managed to say.

'Don't be…' the undead hushed her 'the Dark Lady was our savior, and looking on the bright side, I won't die from starvation… cause I'm already dead!' The woman could not help but giggle at the comment, the undead laughing as well, the guard was still sleeping; a lack of discipline was evident, probably because these groups had not an actual leadership, or a sense of duty.

Suddenly a voice was heard at the distance, getting closer, all that could be heard were taunts and insults, the guard yawned, at least something was able to disturb his sleep, from one of the tunnels of the cave appeared a blue demon, with plated leggings, a horned helmet, still leaving visible his sharp teeth and vicious glare, holding in his left hand a strange axe, and carried on his right shoulder a robed person.

'Release me you damned demon!' the man shouted, the demon, still unperturbed, gave an evil grin, grabbed the man by the neck and threw a powerful punch in the face, that if it had not been by the strange mask he wore, he would have been killed for sure. The man flew and crashed with the bars of the prison.

'This idiot tried to flee, even he got the honor of being the main sacrifice for our masters return' the demon said 'now put him in there before he wakes or you'll regret it…' threatened to the guard, who squirmed, and silently nodded. Quickly he took the man's strange looking staff from his hands and stored it into what it seemed a weapon cache. Then opened the bars and threw him inside, the demon left without a word, the guard a bit shaken of, went back to his chair and went back to sleep.

The female prisoner quickly approached him, to examine the wounded, she could feel the fel aura that surrounded him, his black robes, with some chains coming from the shoulders down to the height of his feet, the lower part seemed to be burned and had left a purple trace, in the shoulders a strange mantle, that seemed to have some sort of animal skull protecting the shoulders, the side and superior parts covered by the same type of cloth as the robe, the head covered by the same kind of skull, and covered by a black shroud. She was about to examine him, when suddenly the man grabbed her by the wrist. 'This is going to be fun…' she could feel the malice in his voice 'when they realize what's going to happen' he was giggling.

The undead grunted 'and that's why….'

The warlock chuckled 'well… they are trying to summon their beloved Dreadlord back to this realm… but I altered the summoning runes… so a minor Pit lord will come out of the portal… which well will save us from being sacrificed since his instinct will be the one of butchering everyone in front of him before they can say a thing… this will be fun indeed' the woman and the rogue felt uncomfortable at the latter comment, the man was clearly dangerous. 'Which reminds me… I need to get out of here, as fun as it will be I don't want to die here… Pit lords are not to be handled alone… so I'll be getting out of here… you guys can come to if you want…'

'And exactly how are you going to get us out human?' the undead hissed.

'The good news is that, that is already in progress…' he pointed at some strange container next to his staff, fel magic was corroding it's exterior quickly.

'And the bad news?' the woman interrupted.

'Well… you may want to take cover…'

'With what?'

'Fuck'

'Me'

'In'

A loud explosion was heard, the bars of the prison, and everything on that part of the cave was blown up, the stone walls, barely resisted such impact. Both the undead and the human closed their eyes waiting for the impact, but it never came. As they both opened their eyes saw the women create a protective barrier in front of them, more than anything she appeared to be in pain.

'It must be that damn seal… she's forcing herself at this pace she will die!' the undead exclaimed, normally he would let a human die, in fact he'd do killing but this human was playing with her own life to save them. The warlock nodded in agreement. 'Sorry but this is for your own good' the women heard the undead say, as she felt something hit her on the stomach and fell unconscious.

The women began to regain slowly consciousness; she could feel the heat of a bonfire, a thin blanket and the hard soil below it, she could feel something over her, pressing her belly; quickly she opened her eyes and saw something that appeared to be a dog over her, the beast had antennas instead of eyes, teeth sharp as a razor, scaled red skin; she could not avoid but scream in horror at the sight. The creature quickly ran scared and hid behind the warlock, who could not help but chuckling.

'Sorry if I have not introduced you… this is my hound… Shaadom and you should thank him for removing the seal on you…' he said between chuckles. 'Go on pet him… he is friendly unless I tell him no to be it' he motioned the creature to move towards the woman. The creature moved slowly, still scared for such scream, on the other side of the bonfire the undead watched the scene in amused silence; the women feel the creature at her side, and started petting him nervously, he was a strange creature indeed, the hound gave a small grunt in approval and licked the woman's hand in return.

'See… he is quite friendly' the warlock commented. 'These demons are just like a regular dog… extremely loyal if tamed… got to admit that was the hardest demon for me to bind'

'What do you mean' the woman asked.

The warlock could not help but sigh, it was obvious that the woman had never seen something of the like, or of this world, as she, according to the undead didn't know where she was standing. 'This creatures are known as felhunters or felhounds, they may look like vicious creatures, which they are, but they are especially dangerous against any kind of sorcerer as they excel at disrupting spells, and devouring magic such as the seal that was on you'

'I still cannot believe we got saved by a mad man…' the undead said 'that was the worst escape plan ever…'

'Well I didn't intend to save you honestly, was hoping to use one of you as a shield' he scratched the back of his head. The woman frowned at the comment while the undead laughed.

'Dirty, cowardly, and treacherous…' he said still laughing 'You are my kind of human' Both laughed.

'I must admit that you alone did a pretty good work on those cultists… when we got out I just saw their lifeless bodies' the undead admitted 'Outstanding work'

'Heh… nothing a few curses can't handle… man I still wish they would have summoned the pit lord… but the explosion was too big… last time I trust a goblin…'

The woman now even though still exhausted, she felt much better, without the weight of the seal. She examined the warlock carefully, while the strange robes gave him an intimidating look, and with the mask covering his face, it was impossible to determine who he was, but she was more interesting in his aura, it was much alike of the one coming from the undead, both calculating, a bit unpredictable, his aura much darker than the undead companion.

'My name is Peorth' the woman introduced herself 'First Class Goddess Unlimited License' she petted the demon who was still sitting next to her, the creature while had an intimidating look, she found it to be quite adorable. 'And I came here in an expedition to this world but we got separated in the way…' her face showed signs of sadness.

Her companions were dumbstruck, if what she said was truth or something caused by a probable head trauma, developing into amnesia and temporary insanity, but the protective barrier that kept them from being burned and pierced during the explosion, while seasoned priests could do the same, they felt a very cozy aura surround them, that filled them with some sentiment of peace and calm, something really strange indeed. They stared at each other and while they had a lot of questions to her, for this time, as their hostility towards each other they let it pass.

'I am Samuel Grey' the undead said 'killing, stealing and infiltrating is my business' he gave a slight bow in acknowledgement. Both he and Peorth turned towards the warlock.

'People call me Razamanaz… real name is Andrew Crowley' he gave a blunt answer. The undead took of his mask, showing his jawless; a strange sound came from his dead insides, simulating a laugh 'Razamanaz?' his greenish skin, showed that he'd been in a state of decay for a long time, yet for some reason he was able to be kept at that state without worsening. 'I think I have heard that nick name long ago… were you born in Gilneas?'

'Maybe… maybe not…' he answered 'Honestly I don't remember much before I was found almost dead in the middle of the Silverpine Forest… well now my friends I must bid you farewell…'

'She can't come with me' the rogue said, while he would normally would abandon someone but himself to their luck, for the first time in his new 'life' he felt like helping somebody else, the effect of the goddess's presence was really strong indeed.

'You can't?

'Nope… she would probably be mistaken by a human back at the keep, and well her fate would not be a good compensation for saving us…' Samuel scratched his head.

'Sorry but are you planning on leaving me here?' Peorth asked, startled.

'Yes' Andrew answered bluntly 'I have enough dealing with stupid acolytes, demons with attitude problems, so I'd refuse to babysit another person!' he rose his fist in the air, on his thoughts though he found the idea quite pleasant, she looked like a good company to have too, and honestly he felt like having a traveling partner for a few days at least.

'Sorry milady but you cannot come with me, I do have some matters to attend' Samuel said, he would be willing to take her, but he knew that it was most likely to get violent reactions from most of the warriors back on the base, back on the Swamp of Sorrows, northern of these forsaken lands.. 'Think you can at least take her to the Keep…'

'I think it would be safer with you, than staying in the keep… lately some demons and cultists have grown bold enough to attack and gain hold of this zone… I think they still believe the demons are about to cross the Dark Portal at any time…' he laughed 'this guys are sure stupid… but well maybe I can take you to Ironforge… but as soon as we get there you are on your own, understood that sweetheart?'

'Oui, cheri' Peorth answered, she smiled inwards, it seemed that there was more than met the eye, while she had a really bad impression from the warlock at the beginning, she could not fell any ill feelings towards her. 'Let's go then'

The warlock nodded, he turned to the undead. 'You know… next time we see… one of us won't survive'

'You won't see me coming, but the last you'll ever see will be me leaving' the undead smiled, he took a round object from his left pocket and threw it to the floor, a loud boom was heard, and both Peorth and the warlock were covered in smoke, after it vanished Samuel had disappeared.

'Shall we go now?' the warlock turned to the goddess, who nodded silently.

Both started walking, through the barren plains, infested by giant lizard-like reptiles, vultures, hyenas and the like, the walk was silent, Peorth was slightly uncomfortable with the silence, it was when they started to climb over the hill, when a pack of hyenas quickly surrounded them. Shaadom growled back at them, and jumped towards the pack, instantly all hyenas started attacking the demonic hound, which thanks to his hard skin could resist their vicious attacks. She was about to intervene when the warlock stood in front of her. 'Let us deal with those beasts' he said.

The hyenas charged at the warlock, but as fast as they were going to bite him, the human let a horrifying howl into the air, that made the creatures run in fear, with the same speed, he started chanting in some unknown language and moving his hands as he was weaving something, with another fast hand movement he pulled a mass of dark energy from one of the hyenas and redirected it to the second nearest foe, both creatures were released from the effect the howl had on them due to the massive pain caused by the fel magic, before they could reach the warlock; both collapsed on the floor, in agony, their skin and flesh being slowly eaten away by some foul magic; the rest of the pack broke free from the effect to see their comrades suffering, causing them to flee.

'Too easy…' Peorth heard the warlock mumble, she observed that with a quick movement of his hand, that for a moment she thought was surrounded by fire, turned the beast leading the charge in flames.

'You may feel pity for them, but it was them of ours…' he said to the goddess, after noticing her concern and pity.

'But I could have…'

'These creatures as the most of everything that is here, has been tainted by the pass of the legion… there are vile mockeries of what they used to be… there's nothing else we could have done…' the initial tone was severe, but slowly turned into one of consolation. 'I know better the effects of demonic corruption than most people…' he gently patted her shoulder. 'Don't worry were we are going, there's nothing of this' he comforted her, she smiled. 'But probably when we arrive you'll be better alone… most people don't like us, they are afraid we would steal their souls or something' he laughed.

'And what about the people in the keep?' Peorth asked intrigued, probably the same treatment could be expected there.

'I've been here a few times… the people from Nethergade Keep are mostly soldiers, but unlike the rest of the Alliance, they have had hard times fending of the demons of this place… so any help is always welcome for them… now let's hope he's still there?'

'Who?'

'Obsidian, my companion, at least when I'm around the zone… he is most likely to have escaped to find something to eat, if that's the case we may stay a bit on the keep' he said nonchalantly.

'But shouldn't he obey you?'

'Not really… I'm not his master anyway… he's a friend of mine, rescued me from certain death a long time ago, and since then we have been traveling together… he speaks a lot though' he scratched the back of his covered head.

The walk was short, when they arrived to the keep, the white stone walls made an interesting contrast with the reddened land of the zone, soldiers standing out of the main gate, and patrolling over the walls, their uniform, red plated armor with a purple tabard was their distinctive, and while most of them were human, a small part consisted of dwarves and some blue-eyed high elves.

'Hey warlock…' one of the soldiers ran to them 'bad news… your drake escaped a few hours ago… we didn't notice he was gone until one of us went to the stables' he was scared, warlocks were known for their viciousness and short temper, he was getting ready for the worse, but he just got a pat in the back.

'I knew it!' he laughed, comforting the soldier 'relax I ain't gonna steal your soul or anything of the like… Obs's gonna pay for that though... probably he will be back in a couple hours… he'd better be' he clenched his fist, and gave a long-drawn sigh.

'Well me and my friend Carl' pointed at the man leaning against the inn's entrance 'are out of duty right now so we can invite you and your lovely companion some drinks?' the man took out his helmet, he was a brown skinned man, bald, he shook Andrew's hand in acknowledgement 'Roderick, nice to meet you'

'Andrew… charmed' he replied.

'I'm Peorth' the goddess bowed, she was about to continue her long introduction, but she was quickly interrupted by an elbow on her rib 'Ouch!' he said, turning to her new friend 'Why was that?'

'Sorry…' was the only reply that she got, Roderick and Carl motioned to follow them into the inn, she started walking, when Andrew whispered in her ear 'If you are going to say them what you said to me and that undead, probably they are going to express a variety emotions that can end up in several ways… most likely people thinking we are insane… now let's enjoy the drinks shall we?'

Peorth smiled at him, the human made a point, there were matters that worried her a lot right now, her face turned into one of preoccupation, she wanted to know how her fellow companions were, it pained her that they had been separated that way, and silently prayed them to be good. Andrew while not being an expert on treating people, he noticed her concern, put her hand on her back. 'When Obs gets back we'll discuss on the trip what troubles you, and see if we can do something about it aite?' he said, still couldn't believe his words, he would not miss the Brewfest festival for nothing as it was one of the few celebrations that appealed to him, and this one would be probably the last before heading to the frozen continent.

Peorth smiled grew bigger; the human seemed to be a caring person after all, she could not help but feel good at his side, even though his intimidating look. She grabbed him by an arm, and leaned closer to him. 'Shall we enter, cheri?' she beamed at him.

'Let's go…' he said, he could not help but blush, he'd been in situations like this before, Anna, the succubus that served him, loved to tease him that way and while he'd gotten used to her teasing him constantly, sometimes It used to go out of control, and ended up in an exhausted warlock and a happy succubus.

Inside the inn, the group took near the chimney, the warmest place of the inn, and ordered some drinks, and told the stories of their lives.


End file.
